Running - The Alien in the Mirror

by Lazlo Ferran

  “Why didn’t you shoot?” Jonr gasped. “After him. Kill him!”

  “Yes.”

  Ishmael leaped after Armande and started down the ladder. He reached the platform and continued onto the ladder, which took a crazy route towards the pipe cluster. It started to shake with the weight of two androids and Armande’s erratic climbing technique.

  Jonr stuck his head down through the hatchway and encouraged Ishmael to catch the President. Armande reached a bracket and a section where the ladder turned on its side. He made the mistake of letting go with both hands for a second and lost his balance. With a scream, he fell to his death on the cavern floor below.

  Ishmael and Jonr saw a ring of soldiers gather around the smashed android. For a moment, they seemed to be devoid of purpose.

  The Supercity Army had moved out to take up advanced defensive positions around the cluster, intended to protect the President’s escape and only a few grunts remained at the intersection. In the distance could be heard the detonations from the two Type 45s.

  Into the void at the centre of the battleground suddenly poured hundreds of Rebels, but from where they came, Ishmael could not tell at first.

  Both Ishmael and Jonr looked on as the first one hundred Rebels became a thousand, pouring forth from four hatches at the base of the cluster. Soon the SA became overrun with Rebels and the end looked close.

  Somebody tapped Jonr on his shoulder so he turned, expecting a fight.

  “Kris!” he exclaimed.

  “Hi President!”

  “President?”

  “Looks like it. Our people are all over the city now. Nothing happened. Some of the androids looked alarmed. They shouted, ‘Revolution,’ but we told them there would be no revolution, only that there would be a new president. They immediately went back to what they had been doing, calmly as ever! Looks like we won’t have any trouble from them. A few soldiers manned a Type 45 at the gates to the Government HQ but we went round them and took them out from behind with a grenade. It’s all over. So I guess you are now President of Supercity!”

  “That’s fine but I need somebody to look at my other leg. Not sure I will walk for some time … .”

  “Can’t let you out of my sight for one minute!” Kris said, but Jonr had passed out.

  ***

  Leaving

  When Jonr woke, he lay in a bed, within Supercity’s main hospital. It had taken time to find anything resembling proper surgical instruments, the hospital’s own selection consisting of power tools. Somebody had finally found scalpels and other instruments in Supercity Museum.

  Ishmael, Mira, Chance and Kris stood over him when he came to.

  “So how did you get into the city?” he asked Kris.

  “Well, you had been right about the sewers; they did lead into the City, up long flights of stone steps from the two main channels. But you know, the funny thing was that this water vehicle had been tied up on the flushing water of the main sewer … dunno what you call such things … .”

  “Boats,” Ishmael suggested.

  “Oh, well anyway, I climbed a ladder opposite and saw that it brought us out in the centre of the SA, at that piping cluster you climbed. Once I had organised the attack there, I took the rest of my men to investigate other ways into the city because we couldn’t all climb that crazy ladder!”

  At the top end of the main channel, where we found the … boat, we found a long tunnel, cut through solid rock. Some of my men are exploring that now. We think it leads to the spaceship; what they are calling Project Infinity. But we found some proper stairways that led up to the City. That is how we got in! Anyway, we have everything under control now so you just lie here and relax!”

  Two days later, Jonr could lie still no longer. Supported by crutches, he went to look at the City with his family and Ishmael. When a hovercar had taken them to most of the main sights, Jonr turned to Ishmael and said:

  “Well, you wanted to show me the Museum. Let’s go!”

  Ishmael showed Jonr and his family the hologram of Arnie’s skeleton and took them to the vaults to find the M-tag. They found its box, but inside somebody had left a label which read, ‘Removed for renovation.’ They couldn’t find the tag nowhere.

  Ishmael led the family back to Arnie’s display, feeling very disappointed. They watched a holographic display to find out the latest research on Arnie’s skeleton and Ishmael jumped up and down with joy.

  “Look! Look!” he exclaimed.

  The display told how, only days before, archaeologists on Earthone had finally found the proof they needed that Citizens had existed before even hominids. Next to the site where Arnie’s bones had been dug up, an M-tag had been discovered, the holy grail of archaeology.

  “Platinum 190,” the hologram explained, “is so stable that it never corrodes so we knew that one day we would find one. All other parts of Citizens are biodegradable of course, in the name of Conservation. The only thing that could ever remain would be the M-tag. Here it is.”

  A happy, young, dark-haired archaeologist held up the shiny tag and showed the cam the serial number on the tag; 109987.

  “It should be noted,” the display continued, “that M-tag 109987 has been missing from our register since before the time of Supercity and even Marstoo, adding to the evidence that we, the Citizens, came first into the Universe!”

  “Which universe!” Jonr exclaimed.

  “I guess she means Universe A,” Ishmael explained. Jonr grinned. “Oh, it was a joke!”

  “Live a little!” Jonr said. “I never hear you tell jokes!”

  “Citizens don’t have humour,” Ishmael replied. “I can’t laugh.”

  ***

  Jonr arranged for the first open and democratic elections to be held in four years’ time but for now, the humans had their work cut out, getting Supercity habitable for themselves. The sewers had long since ceased to function and there were few ways to get hot water or a bath. Food didn’t seem to be a problem; the hydroponic farms churned out bio-food in all sorts of textures and shapes, just as before. One could easily get roast beef, which had actually been made from vegetable matter, grown using only water and starlight. It tasted just as good as the real thing though.

  Increasingly, it became apparent to Jonr that humans did not want to share the city with their former gaolers. He tried to maintain order but when the third riot broke out and two humans were killed by androids who were being disassembled against their will, he had to intervene. He passed a law to have any remaining Bots, except the C-class, put into storage and the C-class banished to the cavern, where they would be given all they needed to build a city of equal magnificence to Supercity. Only one Citizen Family would be allowed to remain in Supercity.

  As soon as the battle had died down, Ishmael’s heart had dragged him away to search for Yaela. He couldn’t find her in her house and after questioning her neighbours, he found out that she had become pregnant. Bemused, he headed for the main hospital and found her in a ward near Jonr’s.

  “Darling! You are alive!” she exclaimed, seeing his battered face. She noted his limp. “What happened to your leg?”

  Ishmael showed her the Supsercity Army leg.

  “Not very fashionable but I don’t mind!” she said.

  “You heard what happened?”

  “Yes. The news bulletins were full of it yesterday. I couldn’t believe they were talking about you. But my loyalty rating is nearly one hundred Ismael. I could never stop loving you, and look!” She held up the bundle that had been sleeping in her arms; a new baby girl. “I don’t know what to call her. I wanted to wait until you could help me choose.”

  “How about Serendipity?”

  “It’s a bit long.”

  “It can be shortened to Chancy.”

  “Really? Okay then.”

  “But how?” Yaela. “My Personality chip says I will have no offspring!”

  “I don’t know Ishmael. It must have been that last night you visited me. Something
must have happened. Some of the new human nurses are saying you are conscious. What does that mean?”

  “I will explain later.”

  As soon as Jonr was able to get around the hotel on his crutches, Ishmael introduced him to Yaela and the new-born Chancy. Jonr smiled and made all the right noises but he looked awkward. As soon they were out of Yaela’s earshot, Jonr pulled Ishmael aside, whispering:

  “But how is it possible? I have never understand what happens with android birth. Did she actually give birth?”

  “Ah. It’s complicated but basically, yes, Yaela’s body is capable of manufacturing a tiny … android. This android has no M-tag and is not really aware of anything. It doesn’t grow but after six months, it is taken away and replaced by a minor, which has the new M-tag. I only learned all this yesterday in the Hospital archives because I thought I ought to swat-up; I think that’s the phrase. This information is not normally known to Citizens and these stages are masked by memory ‘blackouts’. There are five more minor stages, times when the chip is passed to a bigger minor, all held in storage and used over and over again of course, until the minor becomes an adult.”

  “I see. Amazing!”

  “But you know Ishmael, there is unrest in the City. I am not sure how long humans and androids can live together. Something needs to be done.”

  ***

  By a unanimous vote, the new inhabitants of Supercity decided that Ishmael and his family would be allowed to stay in the City.

  Armande had been prepared to launch the spaceship Infinity immediately with only the specially modified C-class Bots to accompany him; his excuse; that they needed an administrator Bot to control them. He never even considered taking the extra twenty humans, for which Infinity had been designed.

  Jonr proceeded with plans to launch the ship, using the twenty modified Bots and twenty human volunteers. He invited Ishmael to join the crew but the ex-Citizen dropped a bombshell:

  “I have only six months left to live Jonr. I will be naturally Terminated and there is nothing that can be done to stop that!”

  “Six months? It is too short!”

  “But I am one thousand years old. And now I have a child. I am not sad at all!”

  “We will delay launch for six months then. Besides, I am told it might take that long for the Earthone computer to calculate the possible point of collapse and the location of the Blinker star. It’s never in the same place as the Big Bang!”

  “You believe the theory then? But the collapsing balloon; you can never reach the void from the surface.”

  “The analogy is imperfect. The ‘surface’ metaphor is approximate, to say the least.”

  “I wish you all the best of luck then. I wish I could come. Perhaps you could take Chancy?”

  “I will think about it.”

  “Jonr. There is one last thing I want to do together. Your Chance once told me that Supercity is underground. But I remember seeing passenger rockets heading to Earthone. Every day, it seemed one would pass overheard. I need to see for myself.”

  “Very well. Up there, you will find only the hydroponic farms. But let’s go and see.”

  By means of a well-hidden elevator system, they ascended for three quarters or a mile before the elevator passed a flat surface, painted to represent sky. Ishmael stared at it in disbelief. Above it lay only a complex framework of ancient seribdenum and biomet beams, which supported a vast hydroponic farm. Above this, he could see a vast set of transparent panels, much as above the Cavern, and through these panels he could see the main star of Marstoo.

  “I see it, and now I finally believe it,” Ishmael said. “It makes me feel sad. But at least I am seeing reality.”

  “One reality,” Jonr corrected. “Our reality, but there may be others!”

  “Yes. Let’s go back. I have seen enough.”

  But Ishmael’s plans for little Chance were not to be realised.

  Three months later, a man broke into Ishmael’s house and killed Chance as she played with her toys. Yaela had been ironing and suffered severe damage, trying to protect her child.

  ***

  Infinity had the most probably location of the Blinker star programmed in and the twenty special Bots had been prepared. Twenty human volunteers, including Jonr and his family, had been chosen and the adventure seemed about to begin when tragedy struck again.

  During a short shopping trip, a man attacked the repaired Yaela with a laser and destroyed her.

  Ishmael had been beside himself with grief. He told Jonr that he yearned for his own Termination now. Jonr had the android taken into protection until that time came.

  On the eve of Infinity’s launch, Ishmael lay on his deathbed, waiting for all his system to shut down. Already, he could no longer feel his legs. Jonr broke off all engagements to sit with his friend until the end. He tried to say something cheerful:

  “I have some news. You know those Ischians who we once fought so bitterly?”

  “Ah yes, the Dogs. I remember.”

  “Guess what; some of them survived their war with the Timpoids after all. They have contacted us. They have their own calculations for finding the Blinker and want to come with us!”

  “Will you let them?”

  “Well, they can’t have survived this long without becoming peaceful. Ten of them arrive today.”

  “Good. The more the merrier, I think you humans say; I found that in the annals!”

  Jonr reached out and took his friend’s hand.

  “Jonr, I don’t think I have more than a few minutes left. There is something I want you to do for me.”

  “Yes?”

  “When the lights go out in my eyes, I want you to turn me over. On my back, you will find a panel, marked C199989. You will need a special tool; it’s there, on the table. Take the panel off and look deep inside the cavity. At the very back, you will see a small silver plate. It’s the M-tag. I want you to take it out and look at it.”

  When we were in the Museum and saw that M-tag holo-image, it occurred to me that a Maker’s Tag would not only contain the serial number but some emblem of the Maker; or at least that seems to be what humans do. I have never seen the reverse side of a tag; they never show it. I want you to look. If I am right, it might prove, once and for all, who created me; an android or a human.

  “You’re still not convinced?”

  “I am but we need proof; I don’t want those C-class … beings on the Infinity believing a lie. Unfortunately, I won’t be here to see the proof.”

  “But I could take it out now!”

  “No! No, don’t do that. It forms a vital part of my circuits; without it, I can’t function and I want to experience my last minutes with you. Tell me what your thoughts about my baby, Chancy.”

  “Well, I didn’t have much time with her, but she seemed as beautiful as any child of my own could be. My Chance loved her, of course … .” Jonr glanced at Ishmael but the light in his eyes had gone out.

  Jonr turned over the android and used the tool to release the service plate. Deep inside, he saw the platinum 190 tag and removed it. He saw the serial number C199989 and turned the tag over. He knew the archaeologists on Earthone hadn’t falsified the discovery of the M-tag in the same geological layer as the 5.4 million years BC hominid, Arnie, so what he saw took his breath away. He saw the unmistakable, etched image of a human family; a father with his arm around a mother and a child, who waggled two fingers behind his father’s head, mimicking the ears of a rabbit or some other big-eared mammal.

  “That settles that then,” whispered Jonr. “Humans must have created the C-class. But if there were intelligent humans before Arnie, where did they come from?”

  ***

  Epilogue

  The Infinity’s engines had been limited to ‘Impulse’ power for three weeks but now she had safely left the orbit of Marstoo’s sun. The crew had settled in and even the Ischians seemed to mix in well. Morale rose high and anticipation of adventure even higher.

 
Jonr sat in the Captain’s Chair and surveyed all the system lights for the half-mile diameter spaceship, which had taken a thousand years to build. All lights were green. The time to go had come.

  Travelling at 0.6 times the speed of light and using a worm hole every day, each of approximately 4 million light years in ‘distance,’ which the sophisticated on board systems had finally been able to locate, they could reach the Blinker star in less ten years. That would be just before the Blinker went out and the Big Crunch annihilated everything in Universe A.

  Jonr cleared his throat and ordered, “Engage full power, now!”

  ***

  The End.

  This is the prequel to the Iron Series: available on on Smashwords:

  Iron I: Too Bright the Sun

  Iron II: Unknown Place, Unknown Universe

  Iron III: Worlds Like Dust – coming soon.

  Why not discuss High Tech and Military Sci-fi in my Iron Series: High Tech and Military Sci-fi group on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/10GXYTo

  Biography of Lazlo Ferran

  Lazlo Ferran's extraordinary life has included studying aeronautical engineering; being a dispatch rider, graphic designer, full-time busker, a guitarist and singer (recording two albums); travelling widely, marrying in Kyrgyzstan and a long and successful career within the science industry. He has now left employment in the public sector to concentrate on writing. He has lived and worked in London since 1985 and grew up in the home counties of England.

  Brought up as a Buddhist, in recent years he has moved towards an informal Christian belief and has had close contact with Islam and Hinduism. He has a deep and lasting interest in theology and philosophy. His ideas and observations form the core of his novels. Here, evil, good, luck and faith battle for control of the souls who inhabit his worlds.

  He has traveled widely, spending some time in Central Asia having various adventures, one of which was getting married in the traditional Kyrgyz style. He keeps very busy writing in his spare time and pursuing his other interests of history, genealogy and history of the movies.